Chapter 5
Mariyah
T he State of Touma had a very different landscape to the kind I’d grown up around in Raven, but it was beautiful, nonetheless. Like something out of a historical romance book. All patches of enchanting forests, old, red-brick buildings, and traditional towns with stone houses that seamlessly transitioned into cities with the perfect blend of modern and preserved architecture.
I’d visited before. Not the royal city of Pavilion where we were headed, but I’d visited the south of Touma where my cousins lived several times. Still, I kept my eyes glued to the window of the Jeep as if I was absolutely mesmerised by the sights we drove by. I even resorted to counting the number of cows and horses to keep myself entertained before the countryside turned into twisting city roads.
Twenty-five horses. A hundred and eight cows, give or take a few. Oh, and fifty-two sheep.
It was that or face the fact I was sitting in a Jeep beside Shehryar, with the driver and a fucking tense silence that sang louder than the radio as my only companions.
Not by choice. Esmeralda had fucking betrayed me.
Prince Arsh had been at the half-military base, half-royal airport where we’d landed to take us to Chaukham Palace. We’d split ourselves between two vehicles, but instead of Esmeralda and I taking one, and Shehryar and Prince Arsh the other, she’d gotten in with Kai’s uncle, leaving me to get into the second Jeep with Shehryar. I couldn’t exactly have thrown a tantrum. Especially not when Shehryar simply climbed in as if it wasn’t a bother.
In my head, it was Esmeralda’s way of punishing me and forcing me to form a temporary reconciliation with her stupid private secretary. In reality, I knew she’d been too desperate to get to Kai as quickly as possible to care about the politics of who rode with who.
But the weight of our pinkie promise on the plane was unforgiving in the awkward atmosphere. It crushed all my other thoughts, no matter how many times I tried to create one just to keep from thinking about it. It inevitably came back around every single time.
Why should I be the one to try to come to a truce with him? None of it was my fault.
But Esmeralda was my best friend, and she deserved at least that much from me.
I swayed gently with the movement of the car as we came to a stop in front of a red traffic light. I nearly jumped in my seat when the driver, who was Kai’s head of security, spoke over the music.
“We will be arriving at Chaukham Palace in around fifteen minutes,” the bald, giant of a man said, looking at us through the windshield mirror. “As Prince Arsh said, we’ll drive around to the staff entrance so there’s little chance of Prince Kai spotting us.”
Shehryar offered the man a single nod. “Thank you, Rocco.” The light turned green, and we drove away, but a time bomb started ticking above my head.
Speak now or face Esmeralda’s disappointment. Speak now or break your pinkie promise. Speak now or fail to be a good friend. Speak now or be the one to ruin everything.
My conscience was a taunting beast, and within five minutes, I was so angry and restless that I wanted to break something.
So, sucking in a deep breath, I chose— for Esmeralda and Esmeralda only —to break the tension.
“I have something to say to you, Shehryar Timur,” I declared before I had the chance to let pride get the better of me. His left ear with the little dent in the top curve twitched like a cat’s would, but he kept his head turned away. I steeled my shoulders. “I said, I have something to say.”
“I heard you the first time,” he bit back, his timbre rough and deep.
“Then look at me, because I’m not going to say it to the back of your head.”
It took more than a few seconds, but he finally faced me, his piercing eyes dead and his jaw set firm. “What?”
A boiling sensation filtered through, and though I refused to react to his obvious egging, it took me two breaths to suppress the feeling. “We both love Esmeralda,” I said. “That’s about the only thing we have in common. It’s the only reason we’re sitting in the car together. For Esmeralda. Because we both know she needs this time with Kai, without any stress.”
“So, don’t cause her any.”
He glanced away, leaving me gaping for the split second it took the volcano inside me to erupt.
“Are you fucking serious?” I hissed. “You’re the one causing her all the stress.”
“Really?” Sarcasm dripped from his voice. “Because I wasn’t the one who told me to jump out of the plane.”
“Well, it’s not as if she’d take your side if she found out about all the bullshit you said to me yesterday, would she?”
He tilted his head, a scowl bunching his brows together. “And she’d be thrilled to know exactly what you were trying to achieve with her brother, wouldn’t she?”
I didn’t miss it. The “trying to achieve” rather than “ achieved” as if he knew I hadn’t slept with Kareem last night. Which wasn’t possible, so I wasn’t going to let him believe I hadn’t.
“Esmeralda isn’t going to care if I slept with her brother last night,” I said confidently but quietly. “She already knows how I feel about him.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end when he smirked. That wasn’t the reaction I’d expected from him. I’d expected flames. Not triumphant amusement.
“Is your wishful thinking making you delusional? Because we both know that’s a lie.”
Nails of shock and humiliation scraped across my skin, bringing a rise of blood with them.
He didn’t know. There was no way he knew. Shehryar had seen Kareem and I together after hours of sitting, chatting, and laughing on the beach. I doubted Esmeralda or Kareem would have told him nothing happened. So why did he sound so sure?
But I wasn’t about to admit he was right. Over my dead fucking body.
“Not all of us struggle to get someone into bed, Sheri.”
“Yes. Because some of us have morals.”
That didn’t sting, but it made me bitter and angry. “Are you trying to slut-shame me? Wow . What fucking morals you have. Give yourself a pat on the back, dickhead.” A muscle ticked in his jaw as I flicked a hand between us. “Do you know what? I was trying to be reasonable for Esmeralda’s sake, but screw you, Shehryar. Just stay out of my fucking way, okay?”
“Take your own advice, Mariyah. Because I’m not the one who can’t stick to myself.”
My instinctual urge was to have the last word, but at the same time, pride told me not to prove him right. And combined, the feeling made me want to scream and rip his stupid, flowy hair out.
Have it your way then, Sheri.
If he didn’t want to agree to peace, I was fine with being his biggest problem.
I’d completely forgotten the driver, Rocco, was still there, and when he cleared his throat, mortification rose over my anger in realisation that he’d heard our entire conversation.
Great. Perfect. Just what I wanted.
“Um, sorry to disturb your, uh, conversation,” he said sheepishly. “But I wanted to let you know we’re only five minutes away now.”
Like Rocco said, we arrived by the staff entrance around the side of Chaukham Palace five minutes later. There we were met by Katiya Timur—Shehryar’s mother—Kai’s two brothers—Prince Fay and the youngest, Prince Adam—and the flirtatious sous chef Esmeralda had warned me about—Pierre Farhan—before the five of them, including Prince Arsh, quite literally snuck me, Esmeralda, and Shehryar through a maze of corridors.
The palace was a stunning building, inside and out. Made of red bricks with a cream rooftop, a climbing rose bush on one side and black balcony railings in front of many of the big, Tregency -style windows, it screamed historical just like everything else in Touma. Inside, it was all red carpet, gold chandeliers, cream walls, dark wood furniture, and the kind of paintings and ornaments lining the walls that made me want to run around barefoot in a big, puffy dress.
There were also lots of people appearing from everywhere and greeting Esmeralda excitedly. More so the closer we got to the palace kitchen. And with every new person that joined us, it became increasingly obvious that the super-secret mission of sneaking Esmeralda in wasn’t actually a secret.
Apparently, two hundred plus people had managed to keep the surprise a “ secret,” and the only one didn’t know was the birthday boy himself.
When Esmeralda headed inside the kitchen to find Kai first, the silent way they all waited and watched through the circular windows on the metal doors made it easier to imagine how none of them had accidentally spilled the truth. It was obvious they all adored TRG enough to try hard.
Not really knowing anyone there properly, I ended up standing slightly on my own, until someone appeared beside me, bringing an air of mischief with them.
“So, you’re the famous Mariyah, huh?”
I glanced across and up to find the Pierre Farhan slowly eyeing me up and down.
It did wonders for my confidence because Pierre was hot—Esmeralda hadn’t lied about that. But he had a cute boyish vibe to him that was right up my “ I can flirt with you ” street. And damn was his Touman accent fucking delicious when he said my name.
Kai’s childhood best friend and nephew to the head chef, Pierre was the sous chef of the kitchen and the same age as Kai. Half Crimson Cast, he had bright, ruby-red eyes that danced with amusement, arched brows, and short hair of the same brownish-silver colour. He had a straight nose dotted with light freckles and wide, kissable lips. Plus, he was built lean like an athlete and had the height too—not as tall as Shehryar, but more so like Kai. Around six-two.
I swivelled on my feet to face him, crossing my arms over my chest. “The one and only.”
His gaze caught on my hips before lifting to my eyes. I didn’t blame him for peeking. Objectively, it was my best asset and my favourite. Neither was he being sleazy about it that I needed to call him out on it. He was admiring respectfully, and admiration I could accept and encourage.
“See something you like?” I asked with mock innocence as I angled my hips.
A knowing grin tugged at his mouth, but he shook his head. “Just sizing up my rival.”
I arched a brow. “Your rival?”
“Of course.” He bent a little closer. “I’m everyone’s favourite around here, so if someone arrives threatening that position, then yeah, I’d call them my rival.”
There was no taming the grin that burst onto my lips. “I suggest you get used to a bit of competition then. Because I don’t lose.”
“Damn.” He pulled an almost pouty face. “I was kind of hoping I could convince you to give up now, because I’d hate to have to flatten you.” His eyes widened like he’d surprised himself. “Woah. Okay. Even that was a little too forward for me.”
I had to bite my bottom lip to stop myself from chortling. “Bullshit,” I said through a soft chuckle. “You knew exactly what you were saying. But it’s okay. Go ahead. I don’t mind a bit of flirting. It’s supposed to be good for your health—”
“Like yoga,” Pierre finished.
I stilled in surprise that he knew the quote I was referring to. “You’ve watched Crazy Life ?”
His eyes narrowed as he straightened. “Are you asking because it’s a rom-com and I’m a man? Which I have to admit, I find offensive, because you look like a forward-thinking woman, Mariyah, but that sounded a lot like gender-based prejudice.”
I gaped playfully. “I would never—”
“Nur gave the signal,” Michael, Kai’s boyish-looking equerry, said excitedly, cutting through my sentence. “Nur gave the signal. He gave the signal! It’s time. Go, go everyone.”
A flurry of happy chatter and giggles whizzed around as Michael and another blond man held the kitchen doors open for everyone, with Kai’s younger brothers, Fay and Adam, leading the way.
“Pierre, son,” Prince Arsh said, waving at us two from the doors. “Bring Mariyah along and come on.”
“Let’s go. We’ve got to be up front as the main couple’s best friends,” Pierre said, gesturing for me to walk ahead.
Before I’d even taken a step, a big, dark presence crept up close to my side, making the back of my neck prickle uncomfortably. Irritation climbed up my spine as I met Shehryar’s glare. He was standing so fucking close I had to tip my head back to look at him. I hated how fucking tall he was. How he was up in my personal space. My heart raged, but something about the sparking cinders in his glower turned the thumping erratic.
“What?” I bit out before I could stop myself.
“You’re in my way,” he said so low, it almost sounded like a growl.
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
I took a purposeful glance at the masses of space around us in the wide-arse corridor. “Are you calling me fat? Because if you are” —I squared up to him—“there’s still plenty of space to fucking go around me.”
For a second, it looked like he was considering ripping a chunk out of my neck with his teeth. But with a slow roll of his jaw, he flicked a glance to Pierre and brushed past me, heading to the kitchen.
I stood there, seething down to my bones, trying to convince myself not to pick up the closest priceless ornament and throw it at the back of his head.
The audacity! After he told me I was getting in his way? Fucking prick.